(Not So) Tough Guy
by Brylee16
Summary: Dean decides to go on a hunt, even with broken bones. Sam tries to stop him, but Dean knows that he can handle it, being the tough guy that he is. But then he catches a cold and turns into a whiny baby.


Dean Winchester carefully touched his chest right below his heart. A little pressure caused him to sharply suck in his breath. His side hurt like a bitch. That vampire chick had seriously kicked him hard.

"There's three of them." Sam's voice took him by surprise and he jerked, then looked at his brother, who had just walked back around the lake house.

"Sam! You scared the piss out of me!", he whispered.

A smile crossed Sam's face. "Sorry." When he noticed Dean's hand, which was stilled pressed to his ribcage, it vanished. "How are you?"

"Besides that, great", Dean said.  
Sam did not look convinced, so Dean added light-heartedly: "Come on, let's bust their little party. I'm in the mood to kill some vampires, aren't you?"

"Generally, yes", Sam replied. "But right now..."

"What?", Dean demanded.

"I'm just worried about you, is all..."

Dean rolled up his eyes and said irritably: "Oh, will you keep those chick-flick emotions to yourself`?"

Sam let out a sigh, then looked his brother in the eye. "Are you sure you're up to this?"

"Damn sure."

To Dean's annoyance, Sam still looked pretty uncomfortable. He wasn't used to his brother all caring and concerned like this and he couldn't help but feel like things should be the other way around. After all, he was the big brother. Still, Sam wouldn't take his eyes off Dean's side and his rib, which was most likely broken from the kick, and said in a quiet voice: "I don't know, man. I just don't think you should-"

Sam never got to tell Dean what he thought he should or shouldn't do in that moment. They were interrupted, when the front door of the lake house was kicked open violently from the inside and three people appeared on the door step. At least they looked like people on first sight. When they smiled, though, they revealed their fangs.

"Shit", Sam mumbled and took a few steps back, while pulling out his knife. Dean did the same in a quick motion. He always felt a lot more confident with a weapon held out in front of him.

"If it isn't the Winchester boys", one of the vampires, a female with bright red hair, smirked.

"We thought we'd shaken you guys off after the fight yesterday. How did you find us?"

"We got our methods", Dean plainly stated. Acting confidently also made him feel more confident.

The red-head raised her eyebrows, looking unimpressed, while her blonde friend began to inspect her fingernails, as if being chased by hunters was the most boring thing that had ever happened to her. The male one in the middle was still showing his fangs demonstratively. Not that Sam or Dean were intimidated, but apparently he was sure that he would have that effect on them.

"Well, well...", said the red-head. "You don't need to tell us. It doesn't really matter. You won't make it out of here anyway, I'm afraid, so your so-called methods won't hurt any more of our kind."

"I wouldn't be so sure, if I were you", Dean said cooly. "After all, we cut down your packs' size immensely yesterday."

The blonde looked up from her fingernails to hiss at them and Sam raised his knife higher in response. The false coolness had vanished in an instant at the mentioning of their dead group members.

"You killed my love!", she yelled, hardly able to contain herself. Dean could feel his body tense up in anticipation of her attack. "You'll pay for that, Dean Winchester!"

Dean was surprised, when Sam next to him got a look on his face that he'd never seen there before and looked the blonde vampire right in the eye, growling: "Don't touch him."

The red-head started laughing a high-pitch, unpleasant laugh. "Cute, Sammy, real cute."

"Don't fucking call him that!", Dean barked, and added, before he had time to stop and think: "How do you even know his name?"

After he'd said it, he realized that vampires might have contacts the exact same way hunters do.

The red-head laughed again and now the blonde joined in. The only one who didn't look amused was the male vampire. "You're so naïve, I'd almost call it 'adorable', Dean", the red-head, who was also the tallest in the group, said. "You seriously think we haven't heard of you? The Winchester brothers? Always on the road? Always ready to sacrifice yourselves for the greater good?" And with a snarl and a false sweetness to her voice she added: "John's boys?"

Now it was Dean's turn to growl. "You don't talk about our father, bitch!"

Luckily, he had his knife raised when the male vampire jumped on him. Dean cut him across the chest, but missed the throat. In the next second, he took a hit and stumbled backwards. Before he had time to hold up his knife again, the vampire was right in front of him and burried his fist deep in Dean's stomach with incredible force. While Dean was still gasping, he barked: "Nobody calls my girl a bitch!"

Dean was still trying to catch his breath – the punch had not left his broken rib unaffected – when the vampire grabbed his hand with the knife and squeezed so hard, Dean's fingers opened automatically and let go of the precious weapon.

"Oops", the vampire said with a mean smile. "You dropped your knife there!"

Dean's brain was still trying to come up with a witty response, when the vampire's kick took him by surprise and he stumbled backwards, tripped over something and ended up on his butt. The vampire smiled a wide, satisfied smile and leaned over him, moving slowly to draw out the moment.

While the vampire whispered threats of what he would do to Dean as revenge for insulting his love, Dean's fingers moved down to his belt unnoticed.

"After killing Dean Winchester, I'll be a new celebrity in our world", the vampire whispered and put a hand to Dean's throat, intending to choke him. Right then, Dean's fingers found the second knife on his belt. He raised it quickly and the vampire's eyes widened as he put it to the side of his throat and used enough force to cut through to the other side. There was no time for last words before the vampire's head dropped to the ground with a sickening sound and the lifeless body fell down next to Dean.

He looked up quickly to get an overview over the situation and noticed the blonde vampire coming right at him. Before he could get to his knees, Sam was there, in front of him, fighting off the

attacker.

Where was the other female? Dean looked around hectically and suddenly there she was, right next to him, showing off her fangs and emitting animal-like noises.

"You killed him!", she growled and jumped on him. _Damn_, Dean thought. _Vampires and their mating for eternity. _He had killed her man without realizing that this would direct enough fury to kill an army directly on him. She was nothing but a wild beast now, longing for revenge.

Somehow, he managed to grab her shoulders and push her off him. He heard Sam in the background, still fighting the blonde. The red-head's eyes were glowing and she curled back her lip to reveal that row of sharp vampire teeth. Dean knew that he couldn't risk a bite, so he stumbled backwards, getting closer and closer to a narrow dock that led onto the lake.

"Not so tough now, are you?", the vampire gloated. "You won't make it out of here, I promise."

"You shouldn't promise something like that", Dean said, trying to distract her while tightening the grip around his knife. "Chances are, I'll escape and then you broke your promise."

"Shut up!", she yelled. "You think you're so smart and handsome, don't you? Sadly, you'll be nothing but history after I'm all done with you."

They had reached the middle of the dock and she jumped on him and sent him to the ground once again. He held up the knife, but she moved too quickly and he couldn't reach her throat. Then, she caught his hand in midair, bent back his fingers with relish and took the knife from him. "Little boys shouldn't play with sharp objects", she said and threw it into the lake.

Now there he was, on the ground, without a weapon, at the mercy of a furious vampire whose lover he had recently killed. Perfect.

"I noticed you're having a little trouble with your side here", she said with mock concern, drawing out the situation now that he was defeated and couldn't get away, because she was pinning him to the ground.

"Aw, it's nothing", he said. "But I appreciate the concern."

"Let me see", she said sweetly and placed her hand below his heart, then leaned on it with force. A scream escaped Dean's mouth. The pain was sharp and stinging.

"Oh", the red-head said and let out a laugh. "I'm sorry. Did that hurt?"

"Get...off!", he replied through gritted teeth.

"Na-ah. Not happening. Not before... this." And with that, she pushed down her hands on his other side, the one that had been intact until now, until there was a cracking noise and Dean emitted another scream.

"There", she said with an evil smile. "I broke that one, too, for the symmetry."

"Get...the fuck...off!", Dean repeated, but she only laughed.

"What's with the strong language? You think you're oh-so-tough, don't you you, Winchester? But I'll break every single bone in your body and then let's see how you handle that. What's next? Hm...how about...this?"

She broke his collar bone without a lot of effort and Dean realized that she was serious. She would break every single bone. Unless, he managed to do something about it. But what should he do? Both knives were gone, he was pinned to the ground, Sam was still busy fighting the blonde... Sam?

He realized that he didn't hear any more fighting noises. And about two seconds later, Sam appeared right behind the red-head, who was busy deciding which bone to break next.

Sam had beheaded her swiftly before she even realized what was going on.

"Dean, are you okay?", he yelled, as the head rolled off the deck and into the water.

"Sure, never better", Dean replied and sat up, trying to ignore the fact that he was in agony.

"Let's get out of here", Sam said, helping him up, but Dean shook his head. "Not before I get my knife back."

"Dean, we have plenty of knives."

"Dad gave that one to me and the bitch just tossed it into the lake", he said and before Sam could utter another word of contradiction, Dean had slid off the dock and gone diving for the knife, which he found on his third attempt.

"Got it!", he said triumphantly and swam to the edge of the water, because there was no way he'd be able to lift himself onto the dock with two broken ribs and a broken collar bone. Just climbing back onto land through the mud sent pain shooting through his body.

"Dude, what's wrong?", Sam asked immediately. He was way too observant for Dean's taste.

"Nothing", he mumbled. "Let's get out of here."

"You broke something else, didn't you?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Dean started walking away from the lake house and back to where they had parked the Impala with Sam on his heels.

"I told you it was a stupid idea to go hunting with that broken rib. Now you're worse than before and -"

"I told you, I feel great."

"Yeah, right. I can tell by the pained expression on your face."

"Just let it go, Sam. We finished the job. I got my knife back. Bones can heal. It's all good."

"Nothing's good! You almost got yourself killed!"

"I did not. I was in control of the situation."

"You did, too! And no, you were not in control! Admit it, Dean. I saved your sorry ass there!"

"Well", said Dean with a smile. "It was about time you repay me for all those times I did the same for you."

Sam just snorted, but Dean continued: "Besides, we got the job done and that's all that matters."

It took another five seconds for him to find out that he was wrong. They had not finished the job.

Dean reached the Impala and was just walking towards the front, when out of nowhere, somebody jumped on him. In a matter of seconds, Dean was pushed down onto the trunk of the car.

"Dammit, Sam!", he yelled. "You said there were three of them! Not four!"

"Think again", said the vampire with a grin and ribbed off part of Dean's shirt, revealing his neck and the bruised part, where the female vampire had pushed down to crack his collar bone.

"Get the fuck of off my brother!", Sam yelled and jumped on the vampire's back, causing him to stumble backwards. Dean took a deep breath and forced his aching body off the Impala's trunk.

Right in front of him, Sam and the vampire were throwing punches at each other. Sam was handling it pretty well, until he let his guard down for one moment to look over to Dean and see how he was doing. In that second, he didn't have his eyes on the enemy, who seized the moment and pushed Sam against a near-by tree, holding him up with only one hand. Sam's feet were above the ground, he was choking.

Dean's body hurt like hell, he didn't feel like moving, but seeing his brother like that sent a new wave of adrenaline through his body. In an instant, he was behind the vampire and forced his knife through the creature's neck, thinking that beheading somebody was disturbingly easy once you were angry enough. He watched blood splatter all over his clothes.

"Thanks", said Sam, who landed on his feet as the vampire's head and body hit the ground.

"Welcome", Dean smiled. "Now I saved your ass. We're even."

"I'm sorry", Sam said with a sigh. "I only saw three of them when I looked through the window."

"Next time, take a closer look, alright?"

"Yup, definitely. Can we go now?"

"Now that we _actually_ finished the job, sure."

"Okay, then get in the car."

Dean was just about to get into the driver's seat, when he stopped. "Hang on. I'm all wet and covered in blood. I'm not gonna get into the Impala like this."

Sam looked at him sympathetically. "That lake was pretty gross, huh?"

Dean looked down at his dirty clothes and took an experimental sniff. „That dirty puddle doesn't deserve to be called a lake. I mean, what's _in _that water?!"

Sam couldn't supress a grin. „I don't know, man, but the way you smell tells me that I don't really want to know."

"Whatever."

"What do we do now?"

"I hate to say this, Sam, but I'm going to ask you to drive my car back to the hotel."

"Sure, no problem."

Dean gave him an intense look. "You hurt my baby, you know I will-"

"Okay, I don't need to hear those death threats again. I'll drive carefully."

"You better."

"I promise, Dean", Sam said with a sigh. "How will _you _get back to the hotel, though?"

"I'll walk. It's no problem."  
"Anything for your car, huh?"

"Exactly. Now go. See you in a bit."

So after this exhausting fight, in which Dean had gained two additional fractures of bones that were very dear to him, he had to walk along the highway for over 40 minutes in his dirty, smelly clothes before he finally got to the hotel, where he could shower. The silver lining was that when he arrived, he found out that Sam had somehow managed not to turn the Impala into a pile of junk on the ten-minute drive. That, of course, didn't mean that Dean would let him drive ever again.

Dean felt pretty lousy that night. It was still early and he knew that there were some nice bars around, but he felt cold and shivery after walking home in those wet, clammy clothes and every wrong movement hurt.

On top of feeling so miserable, Dean was started to feel pretty annoyed by Sam, because his brother was watching his every move.

"How bad is it?", he asked when Dean, who was trying to turn up the volume of the TV, but dropped the remote, flinched when bending down to pick it up.

"How bad is what?"

"Dean, stop playing dumb. I know that your rib is broken."

„We can't know that for sure."

„Exactly my point! You should go and let somebody have a look at it!"

Dean shrugged. Which hurt. But he tried not to let it show on his face. „Nah. I just ignore the pain, and then they heal. It's always worked for me like that."

Sam took a deep breath and raised his eyebrows at him. „Dean, from the way you move, or rather not move, I suspect you have at least two broken ribs and maybe a broken collar bone? I don't think 'ignoring the pain' is going to be effective here."

Dean couldn't help but feel impressed by Sam's perceptiveness. Still he decided to deflect by saying: „Well, how would you know? You've never tried to toughen stuff like this out."

„Because it's stupid."

„You're stupid. And I'm pretty much invincible."

Sam sighed. „Remember when I broke my wrists? You told me to go and let a doctor check it out."

„Well, Sammy, it's my job to make sure you're okay."

„And it's _my_ responsibility to do the same for you!"

Dean, who had finally managed to sit back down on the bed with the remote in his hands, turned up the volume and said: „I'm the oldest, which means that I'm always right, remember? You needed a doctor, I don't."

„But Dean..."

„No. Stop it. You're being a bitch, Sam."

Sam looked annoyed, but smiled a little, when he said: „Jerk."

That was that. At least for now, Dean had caused Sam to shut up about it and mind his own business. Throughout the night, however, Dean became aware that not only his fractured bones were bothering him. For some reason, he just didn't feel too hot. Something was wrong with his throat, and his head. Everything hurt somehow. Plus, he couldn't decide whether he felt cold or warm. Nevertheless, he kept on his game face, watched some more TV, did a little chit-chat with Sam about the girls on the show and finally went to sleep a lot earlier than his usual time, hoping that he would be back on his feet the next morning.

Sam woke up to the sound of coughing. He groaned. It felt too early to get up, but the sound of the coughing was really irritating and finally he got himself to sit up in bed.

Dean was right next to him, in the other bed, with his blanket pulled up to his chin and coughing onto his pillow with a hacking sound.

"Sam", he groaned, when he noticed that his brother was awake. His voice sounded husky.

"Dean? You alright?"

"I don't know, man." He coughed again. "I feel horrible."

Sam was awake immediately. Dean admitting to weakness was...new.

"When I cough, my ribs hurt", the older Winchester said in a whiny voice.

Sam smiled sympathetically. "You probably caught a cold when you walked home in them wet clothes last night."

Dean looked like a hurt puppy when he said: "I swear, Sammy, this is the cold from hell. I give up. Not leaving bed today."

Sam laughed a little at his brother's pathetic appearance. The tough guy looked flushed and worn-out with a red, shiny nose and chapped lips.

"You do look kind of sick", Sam agreed.

"I feel fucking sick, Sammy!", Dean complained. "I feel terrible! I can't even breathe! My nose is all itchy. And my throat is really sore! This is torture!"

Sam grinned. "When that vampire broke your bones yesterday, that was torture! This is just a cold."

„Just a cold, my ass! I'm suffering. I'm in pain!"

"Dean, really", Sam laughed. "It's not that bad!"

Dean looked daggers at him. "Say that one more time and I'll give it to you, see how you like it."

"Alright, I'm sorry", Sam said more sympathetically now. "I understand that you're not feeling well and that the 'cold from hell' is making you miserable."

"Damn right it is!", Dean said and turned to the side to sneeze.

"Bless you", Sam said softly. "Would you like to see a doctor?"

Dean frowned while rubbing the back of his nose with his hand and sniffling wetly. "I don't know, man. Maybe I should."

Now Sam couldn't help but laugh out loud. "So you decided to ignore the pain of your broken bones, but you're willing to see a doctor because of a runny nose?"  
"You don't understand!", Dean said and raising his voice caused him to cough again. "This is different."

Sam was still laughing.

"Wipe that smirk off your...", Dean started saying, but broke off sneezing again. "Dude...", he said in a whiny voice after he was done. "Is this what being sick feels like? I forgot all about it. Man, this sucks. I feel _horrible_!"

"I can tell. So do you just want to stay in bed all day? Because there's another hunt out there for us just a few miles from here. I talked to Bobby."

"No", Dean groaned. "No hunt for me today. No, thanks."

Amused, Sam said: „Are you telling me that you would go hunting with several broken bones, but not if you have the sniffles?"

Dean sneezed again, then replied irritably: „Just shut up and go make me some tea, will ya?!"

As he walked off into the kitchen, Sam mumbled quietly, but audibly: "What did you say there about being 'invincible' again?"

Dean just groaned and got up to get himself some tissues. It was going to be a rough day.

A few minutes later, Sam returned to his bed with a cup of steaming tea and Dean accepted it without a word of thanks, taking a few sips.

"My throat's not getting better", he whined then. "Sammy..."

"Dean", Sam said and took the cup from him to place it on his nightstand. "What do you always tell me? These things take a while. Complaining about it won't help."

"What should I do?", Dean asked and broke off coughing. "To get better, I mean."

A warm feeling spread in Sam's stomach area. Dean must feel really bad to ask him for advice. These moments in which Dean was so vulnerable and actually allowed Sam to take care of him were rare, so he would make the best of it.

"You should try to sleep it off", he said gently and Dean nodded in obedience, like a little child. It was amazing to see what this cold had done to his brother, breaking all his stubbornness and making him all docile. Sam was having trouble believing it.

Then, as Dean turned to his side and pulled the blanket back up to his face, he mumbled: "I'm at least _nearly _invincible...", and Sam was relieved to see that even though this cold had reduced his older brother to a sniffly, pathetic mess, deep down Dean was still the same.

What do you think? (: Reviews are highly appreciated!


End file.
